Top Stories –
First cyber attack of the decade –
Internet giant Google says it may end its operations in China following a “sophisticated and targeted” cyber attack originating from the country.
Billion dollar game –
Video game Call of Duty – Modern Warfare 2 has taken more than $1bn (£625m)in revenue. It went on sale in November and made an estimated $550m in its first five days. The sales put it alongside other $1bn titles such as Guitar Hero III and World of Warcraft.
Top Video –
Modern Warfare 2 Trailer
Top List –
Top 100 films of the Noughties (2000-2009)
List from Daily Telegraph By David Gritten, Tim Robey and Sukhdev Sandhu
Part 5 – 60-51
- 60 Kill Bill
Quentin Tarantino, 2003: Tarantino split the film in two and his critics down the middle, serving up a delirious martial arts revenge saga.
- 59 Wall-E
Andrew Stanton, 2008: Pixar trawled the debris of a disused Earth in this brave, breath-taking robot romance.
- 58 Donnie Darko
Richard kelly, 2001: This darkly beautiful suburban fable was the cult sensation of the decade.
- 57 Sideways
Alexander Payne, 2004: No Merlot! Everyone’s favourite wine-trip comedy, this was a rare buddy movie with serious wit, integrity and great performances.
- 56 Atonement
Joe Wright, 2007: This flamboyant, visually ravishing adaptation of Ian McEwan’s Second World War novel put its British director on the map and confirmed Keira Knightley’s star quality.
- 55 Bowling for Columbine
Michael Moore, 2002: Passionate, wildly funny condemnation of America’s gun culture. It inspired a wave of politically-minded young people to become documentary film-makers.
- 54 Talk to Her
Pedro Almod”var, 2002: Beguiling top pick from the Almodóvar offerings, as the Spanish director went from strength to strength in his ongoing “mature” phase.
- 53 No Country for Old Men
Joel & Ethan Coen, 2007: Fine adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s dark vision of evil in Texas, blending savage humour and genuine dread with stunning photography.
- 52 Hunger
Steve McQueen, 2008: Recent history – and Bobby Sands’s starvation campaign – was brought to intense, visceral life by the Turner prize-winner’s feature debut.
- 51 Lagaan
Ashutosh Gowariker, 2001: A stirring fusion of masala music and anti-colonial cricketing epic that opened many eyes to Bollywood.
Top News –
- Armed conflicts and attacks
- A fatal attack on a tourist by a “dinosaur-sized” shark off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa, prompts the closure of several beaches. (Discovery News) (IOL) (AFP)
- Business and economy
- Mercedes-Benz‘s 2009 sales rise 77% in the People’s Republic of China. (Xinhua)
- The United States trade deficit rose 9.7% to 36.4 billion US dollars in November. (Xinhua) (People’s Daily) (RTT News)
- The North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) is held in Detroit, Michigan, US. Green vehicles are seen as a response to the late 2000s recession. Automotive News World Congress is held at the Renaissance Center. (Xinhua)(Merinews)
- Shares in Japan Airlines fall by 81%. (BBC) (The Straits Times)
- Disasters and accidents
- An Arkefly Boeing 767 flying from Amsterdam to the Netherlands Antilles is grounded at Shannon Airport after a man claims there is a bomb on board. All 242 passengers and crew are evacuated. (RTÉ) (Radio Netherlands Worldwide) (The Australian)
- International relations
- Guinea‘s junta chief Moussa Dadis Camara arrives in Burkina Faso after being hospitalised in Morocco. (Times LIVE)(BBC)
- Turkey threatens to recall its ambassador from Israel over a dispute involving Turkey’s ambassador to the country. Israel apologized later. (Reuters) (Ha’aretz) (Today’s Zaman)
- The Kiev Court of Appeal accuses Joseph Stalin and other leaders of the former Soviet Union and Soviet Ukraine of organizing mass famine in Ukraine in 1932-1933. (Kyiv Post) (RIA Novosti) (RT)
- Law and crime
- Pope Benedict XVI meets and forgives the woman who attacked him at Christmas Eve Mass in 2009. (The Times)(Catholic News Agency) (Adnkronos)
- Politics and elections
- Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni urges the government to reconsider the anti-homosexuality bill being debated due to “foreign policy issues“. (The Guardian) (New Vision)
- Science and technology
- Computer modelling shows that the Pine Island Glacier and Thwaites Glacier, once described as a major “tipping point” for the entire West Antarctic Ice Sheet in the embayment of the Amundsen Sea, has reached their own tipping points for eventual collapse, likely to lead to a sea level rise of up to 52 cm. (New Scientist)
- Venezuela announces an electricity rationing programme in which the entire country will be affected by four-hour blackouts every week. (El Universal) (China Daily)
- The Government of the People’s Republic of China responds to Google‘s refusal to continue censorship of search results. (Xinhua) (BBC)
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